Power generation, manufacturing, air conditioning and various industrial processes require significant amounts of thermal dissipation in order that continuous operation may be effected. Recent ordinances forbid the discharge of excessive heat into public waterways so large water-cooled heat exchangers are not permitted, or are at least looked upon with much disfavor. Furthermore, common evaporative heat exchangers consume excessive amounts of water and they in turn precipitate excessive amounts of moisture into the air causing extensive ground fog or vapor over neighboring areas, so they too are generally classified as undesirable.
An alternative to evaporative heat exchangers comprises an arrangement known as "dry" cooling towers. In "dry" cooling towers heat is discharged therefrom directly into the air without the evaporation of water whereby such heat exchangers have a low effectiveness and they are relatively expensive to operate. However, inasmuch as they do not discharge heat into adjacent bodies of water nor do they discharge moisture into the atmosphere, they have obvious environmental advantages in spite of their lower effectiveness and greater expense.
A developing form of "dry" cooling tower comprises a rotating horizontal shaft on which are mounted a series of heat absorbent discs, evenly spaced apart and adapted to rotate between the hot liquid and the cooler air. The discs may be chemically treated or otherwise adapted to repel the hot liquid whereby they may absorb heat but not liquid. Thus the discs remain essentially dry, and upon rotation, only heat is transferred to the air.
The present invention is directed to an arrangement for positively spacing apart the discs on a rotary shaft of a "dry" cooling tower and eliminating the inner portion of each disc to reduce the weight thereof, the material requirement, and the cost of operation. An axial support for the peripheral edges of all discs that lie spaced along the longitudinal axis of a rotary drive shaft is provided whereby the inner portion of each disc may be satisfactorily eliminated to provide the above specified advantages.